Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-mechanics-quantum-theory-and-quantum-computers-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2008/a/3/solution

Write , and , for nonnegative integer . The angular Laplacian satisfies . Direct radial differentiation gives
Because , the contribution cancels the Coulomb potential in the Hamiltonian. Therefore
The volume element contributes . The squared state factors into radial, polar and uniform azimuthal densities, so the angular normalization cancels in every radial expectation. With ,
The supplied integration-by-parts recurrence gives . Hence
In particular . Put . Chebyshev's inequality gives
For the polar variable set . The polar density is proportional to , so
An exact expression for the requested tail, as well as its useful estimate, is
The inequality is Markov's inequality applied to . If a finite expression is desired, expand : the numerator is and the denominator is the same sum with .
By the union bound, with probability at least both and . The height above the equatorial plane is then at most . The cylindrical radius differs from by at most . Thus the distance from the circle of radius in the equatorial plane is with probability tending to one. This is relative concentration around a growing circle; it does not assert an absolutely shrinking thickness. The probability concentration of a circular Coulomb eigenstate is a precise version of the large-angular-momentum orbit picture.

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